World Reviewer rating

Tunis Medina

Some of the guide books advise you to carefully record your progress though the winding pale alleyways of the medina so you can find your way back out again, but others tell you to just accept you’re going to get lost and embrace the feeling of being somewhere unlike anywhere else in the world. The layout was laid down in the 7th Century and has been built on and rearranged since then so now it’s more than a maze in three dimensions and bordering on an Escher drawing. Into the winding alleyways, tiny shops and barrow stalls have been packed things to shop for: carpets, jewellery and clothes, pottery and brass, spices, sweets and other tasty delicacies, perfume and pipes, just to get you started.

If you’re of a mind to follow the advice of the guidebooks recommending caution it will be useful to know that the streets are named after the kind of produce they’re used to offer and in some cases still offer. It’s also useful to be aware that this is a competitive sales environment and it’s going to be loud and pushy and exciting and slightly intimidating, but in a good way.

Travel box

Other expert and press reviews

Under the Almohads and the Hafsids, from the 12th to the 16th century, Tunis was considered one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in the Islamic world. Some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains, testify to thi… Read more...

'Under the Almohads and the Hafsids, from the 12th to the 16th century, Tunis was considered one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in the Islamic world. Some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains, testify to t… Read more...

Comments, reviews and questions by other travellers

The Medina of Tunis is perhaps the best Medina in the country, whilst the sites are nothing spectacular, and you can walk straight past them if you do not keep an eye out!, but the atmosphere of the labyrinthine streets is great.